Class L Girls' Soccer: Exeter takes third title in four years

MANCHESTER – The season the Exeter girls' team could only describe as unbelievable made believers of most of the 800 fans attending last night's chilly Class L championship.

The Blue Hawks claimed their third championship in four seasons in convincing fashion, with a 2-0 win over defending champion Manchester Central in a well-played physical contest in which four yellow cards were drawn.

"This is just so unbelievable," said Chelsea Owens. The senior midfielder played on the 2007 title team and netted last night's go-ahead goal in the 21st minute of play. "Back when preseason began, I felt pretty uneasy about how things would turn out. I guess we've come a long way."

Exeter (17-2-1) lost 13 players to graduation from the team that lost to Central in last season's semifinal game.

"Early this season, I didn't even think we'd get back to the final four," said Allison Wilson, a junior who made the defensive play of the game shortly after Owens' goal. "This has been an unbelievable season. We've never beat Central. This year we did it in the regular season and in the finals. That's something."

Central, a top-tier team for the past 15 seasons, shared Exeter's pre-season plight. The Little Green team graduated eight; many are now playing on college pitches. As seems the case every season, the club reloaded, returned to play in its seventh championship game and finished the season at 16-4.

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"For us, scoring the first goal against Central was huge," said Exeter coach Megan Curran. "It was a huge momentum builder."

Danielle Beane angled a pass toward Owens near the far post.

"It came to me in the air and I clubbed it good," said Owens with a laugh. "It was really exciting because I hit it with my left foot."

Owens very nearly doubled the lead about five minutes later, but Little Green keeper Lindzy Hamel came out to make a save from her knees. She made eight saves on the night, several of the spectacular variety.

Central made a strong bid to equalize the score with just over 13 minutes left in the first half. Sarah Velasquez bent a line drive toward the right corner. Exeter keeper Aby Fisher dove for the save, leaving the net open for a rebound attempt from Jillian Graff.

"Right then I actually had a psychic moment. I knew I had to stand in a specific spot in front of the goal for some reason," said Wilson. The spot happened to be where Graff aimed her shot. Wilson leaped to head the ball away from the goal face.

"The header took care of that shot," said Central coach Peter Lally. "That's the way the game happened. I can't fault anything my team did. They played hard. We couldn't score."

Lindsay Johnson and Deven McKiernan each put two quality shots on net. One just missed. Exeter's Fisher saved the other three.

Exeter went up by two in the fifth minute of the second half when Natalie Vance's left-footed pass split two defenders atop the box and found Abby Short's left foot angling toward the near post for an unstoppable shot.

"That score helped us relax," said Owens. "We came together as a team and played our style of game."

Exeter possessed the ball and thereby limited Central's offensive attack.

"We did a remarkable job getting back to the championship game and that's an experience few teams ever get," said Lally.

Central graduates seven, but its junior varsity and freshman team dominated the opposition. "Central's not going away," said Lally.